July I was charmed by Hanging Houghton and found Cromford waiting impatiently for my plan to move parliament there to be implemented. For the first time, as far as I recall, I was quoted in my favourite newspaper, the Shropshire Star. I visited Trent Lock, Long Eaton, and Bonkers Hall - or Nevill Holt as they insist on calling it - and demonstrated against Donald Trump. Back in Leicester I found the birthplace of the novelist C.P. Snow and a plaque in memory of the first victims of German bombing of the city in the second world war. This was ...

So, here I am in St Julian's, or San Giljan, as I might more correctly call it, for I am on a smallish island in the Mediterranean, not far from Tunisia, but closer to Sicily. The Maltese sun is, if not warm, tolerably mild, and I am somewhere I haven't been before, which is always good. At the end of what has been, to some extent, a rather trying year, albeit not a personally trying one, it is nice to escape the horror that is British politics, and just relax and recuperate. Our hotel is very nice, with friendly, helpful ...

Second frame of third section (Gert's new boss is explaining the school philosophy to him): School principal: I believe that in this school we are doing a reasonable job of preparing* the boys and girls for the challenges of the adult world. They are sweet children, most of them anyway... You know how it is at that age, you're finding out where the boundaries are, and at first they'll try and see what you will let them get away with. You just have to show them that there are limits. * The verb "klaarstomen" actually implies much more energy than ...

Here are the latest national voting intention figures from each of the main pollsters currently polling in the UK. Looking down the lead column, you'll see that Labour and Conservatives are neck and neck which, given what political life has been like for the government recently, is really quite remarkable. To put the numbers into longer context, take a look at PollBase, my database of polling figures going back to 1945, which is updated quarterly and remember the warning about individual polls. Polling company (italics indicates no poll in last month) Con Lab LibDem Ukip Green Con lead Fieldwork Method ...

[IMG: Image result for 2019] For the last seven years I have made some end of year predictions - inevitably some are more accurate than others, but now it's become a bit of a tradition the purpose is more to entertain friends than make genuine political forecasts (all that went out of the window a few years ago, when politics became a parody of itself). However, I get a few things right as you'll see from last year's efforts: What I got right: the Liberal Democrats' fortunes, the UK government's absence of any strategy on Brexit, the chaotic negotiations, Theresa ...

So, as predicted here and elsewhere, Theresa May's pledge to build a "new generation of social homes", has turned into a damp squib. The reasons for this are many, but it largely comes down to a reluctance to commit the resources needed to the project, and a lack of understanding amongst Ministers of what is affordable and what is not. As the Independent reports, only 12,500 of the 250,000 homes to be built with the affordable homes budget by 2022 will be social homes - equivalent to 2,500 per year. The other 237,500 are likely to be more costly "affordable ...

Zuffar Haq fighting Harborough in 2010 Zuffar Haq, Liberal Democrat candidate for Harborough at the last three general elections, is to receive an MBE in the New Year's Honours List. He told the Leicester Mercury: "I am honoured, and humbled, to receive this award. "Born and brought up in Leicester I have always felt it important to play a part in the community which has given my family and I so much."Zuffar also fought the Leicester South by-election for the Lib Dems in 2011. He escaped the fate of most Lib Dem by-election candidates during the Coalition years and held ...

There's a lot of Lib Dems heading for Peterborough at the moment. Mark Pack went there yesterday and I'll overlook that he described himself as the Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice in his video about his trip. I'm not precious. Really. Anyway, there are important local elections happening in the Cambridgeshire town in May and we all know that the earlier you campaign the better you do. There is also the possibility that there might be a parliamentary by-election in the near future, depending on what happens following Labour MP Fiona Onasanya's conviction for perverting the course of justice earlier ...

I've spotted two Liberal Democrats in the New Years Honours list. The first is Zuffar Haq – who, in addition to his Lib Dem activity has an impressive record of other good works, such as running a medical charity. Congratulations on your MBE, Zuffar. I can say that quite genuinely not only because he's a lovely chap I've had the good fortune to meet a few times but also because of the breadth of his good works outside politics. Likewise, congratulations to town councillor Molly Rennie from Dorchester, recognised for her work raising awareness of domestic abuse. As she told ...

Leicestershire Liberal Democrat candidate and health campaigner Zuffar Haq has been awarded an MBE in this year's New Year's Honours. From Leicestershire Live: "Another recipient of the MBE was Zuffar Haq, who was awarded for public and political service Zuffar, of Oadby, is well-known as a campaigner who helped save the children's heart unit at Glenfield Hospital. He has also stood for election for the Liberal Democrats in Parliamentary elections and runs a medical aid charity. He said: "I am honoured, and humbled, to receive this award. "Born and brought up in Leicester I have always felt it important to ...

Bootle New Strand shopping centre In what can only be seen as a surprise move last year Sefton Council splashed out over £30m of public money to buy The Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, a move that shocked many in these times of austerity for local authorities. But it seems that buying shopping centres is quite the fashion for local councils these days as the article below details from the BBC website:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46625912 I'm the first to say that I'm highly sceptical of such moves by cash-strapped councils – it's a massive gamble that could go horribly wrong. I had ...

We're told we live in an internet age. The need to meet people face to face to get advice and solve problems is not as important as it once was. The growing views is that everything can be done by telephone or online. That means that in an age when money is tight, councils can rely on call centres and computers to steer people though the sometimes labyrinthym procedures for benefits, permits and payments. That's the thinking behind Shropshire Council's plan to reduce the opening hours of its drop-in service in Ludlow Library from four days to two days a ...